2021 Emei Bi Luo Chun (Jade Snail)

A high mountain green tea from Emei Shan, Sichuan harvested in March 2020. Fresh, floral and really smooth in taste.

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Bi Luo Chun 2021 green tea pre-Qingming

A high mountain green tea

Harvest: March 25th, 2021 (before Qingming Festival, early April)

Origin: Emei Shan, Sichuan Province, China 

Taste: fresh, sweet, vegetables like zucchini, a little nutty like roasted beans, tiny subtle bitterness if you let it steep for too long.

Halyn's brief tasting notes, of our tea friend when she drank Emei Bi Luo Chun for the first time:

Emei Bi Luo Chun - very gorgeous, flowery and also citrus in the fruit direction, reminiscent of a green apple

Tasting note from Rika:

A fresh and floral green tea that is a gentle tea like Mengdin Gan Lu and Pai Mu Tan such.
Its salty note together with a flowery sweetness tastes light and refreshing.

If you like this tea, we recommend our other Sichuan green tea from Emei Shan: Zhu Ye Qing (Emei Shan) 

These teas can, for example, be compared very well with each other.

preparation

To prepare the perfect cup of green tea, the water should have a temperature of around 80˚C. Boiling water would prevent all of the flavors from dissolving. The taste would not be nearly as intense.

• Then it depends on whether you like the tea in the traditional way or in a European way (western style) prepare. Traditionally, about 5-6g of tea is used for a small pot of tea (approx. 150-200 ml). About half is used for a Gai Wan. According to the western view of preparation, that seems way too much.
• Then you pour the hot water over the tea. This first infusion is only used to warm up the cup and to clean the tea a little. You pour away the first infusion.
• Now you pour the water on again. A steeping time of is recommended for the 2nd infusion about 20-30 seconds.
  If you don't know how to prepare it traditionally, it seems very brief. Due to the amount of tea that is used, the taste is still intense.
• When the time is up, pour the tea (water) off completely into a cup. Now enjoy your 2nd infusion.
• For the 3rd infusion, you fill your jug (or Gai Wan) again with hot water. This time you increase the brewing time to about 1 minute
• You can repeat this process between 5 times. Each time you increase the brewing time a little.

I don't need to describe the western preparation in such detail. You pour hot water over a few grams of tea (approx. 4-5g) in a medium-sized teapot and wait 2-3 minutes. You can also enjoy Long Jing tea in this way. In comparison, however, the aroma in traditional preparation is significantly more intense and richer. However, it also requires significantly more time and attention.

If you have a little more time, then you should really try traditional tea preparation!

A suitable and traditional teapot for tea is a porcelain gaiwan.